RJ Sangosti / AP
James Eagan Holmes in Arapahoe County District Court on Monday. Defense attorney Tamara Brady is at right.
By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News
Updated at 12:31 p.m. ET: James Eagan Holmes appeared in court for the first time Monday after he was arrested last week in the deaths of 12 people in a mass shooting at a sold-out movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester determined that there was probable cause to continue the case,?telling Holmes he was accused of having killed 12 people and wounded 58 others early Friday in a crowded theater was showing the premiere of the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
Sylvester set a hearing on formal charges ? expected to be 12 counts of first-degree murder ??for next Monday at 9:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET). Holmes, wearing a red prison jump suit, said nothing during the hearing. He mostly looked down at the table under a shock of dyed bright red hair and occasionally raised his eyebrows in a quizzical expression.
M. Alex Johnson is a reporter for NBC News. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.Afterward, he was led away in handcuffs to his cell, where he is being held in isolation, said?Carol Chambers, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, which includes Arapahoe County.?
Asked about the seemingly overwhelming evidence that investigators had amassed against Holmes, Chambers cautioned that "there is no such thing as a slam-dunk case."
"We will work very hard on this case just as we would on any other case," she told reporters after the hearing.?
Authorities in Colorado are trying to piece together what could have driven suspected gunman James Eagan Holmes to open fire in an Aurora movie theater. NBC News' Mike Taibbi reports.
Chambers wouldn't say whether prosecutors intended to seek the death penalty. A death penalty case would "impact the victims' families for years, we would want to get their input on that," she said, and any decision could take months.
Chambers is term-limited, which means that decision would be made by Chambers' successor, Republican George Brauchler or Democrat Ethan Feldman, one of whom voters will elect in November.
"A case like this involves so many different aspects ? (prosecutors will) be working with the police, dealing with things such as search warrants, locations, is there enough evidence to proceed," James Peters, a former Arapahoe County prosecutor, told NBC station KUSA of Denver.?
"On a case like this, you're going to, in the back of your mind, start thinking of the death penalty and factors that might be taken into account in either seeking the death penalty or defenses that might exist to prevent that from happening," said Peters, who prosecuted the case of a man who killed killed four people at an Aurora restaurant in 1993.
On a day of prayer and reflection, Aurora, Colo. comes together after being torn apart by the shooting rampage early Friday morning. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
Holmes' defense strategy could delay a resolution even longer. If Holmes were to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, or if his attorneys were to argue that he is incompetent to stand trial, proceedings could stretch for years ? perhaps ?indefinitely.
A defendant is considered incompetent if he's unable to understand the charges against him or to assist in his own defense. Legal proceedings must stop until the defendant is restored to competency.
Scott H. Robinson, a prominent Denver criminal defense attorney, said Holmes' lawyers might have no choice.
If they believe their client is incompetent,?they have "an absolute duty to raise competency and [request] a competency evaluation," he said
Batman mask found
When Holmes was arrested early Friday, he told police he was the Joker. A law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Sunday that investigators had found a Batman mask inside Holmes' apartment.
Investigators found the mask after they finished clearing the home of booby traps and ammunition, a law enforcement official close to the investigation said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the news media.
Shocked Aurora vows, 'We will not forget' victims of theater shooting rampage
Holmes has been held without bond at the lockup in Centennial, Colo., about 13 miles from the Aurora theater. He will be advised of the charges against him, and he could also face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said that it could take months to determine a motive and that police were working with FBI behavioral analysts.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama traveled to Aurora, a Denver suburb of 325,000, to offer comfort to families of the victims. He told them their loved ones would be remembered long after the justice system was done with the killer.
The dead included war veterans, an aspiring sportscaster who had barely escaped a shooting in a Toronto mall earlier this summer, and a 6-year-old girl.
Many in Aurora have vowed to deny Holmes the publicity they believe he craves by not uttering his name.
Aurora pastor: 'The storms of life happen to all of us'
"I refuse to say his name. In my house we're just going to call him Suspect A," Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said at a memorial on the steps of the Aurora municipal center Sunday night. He captured a spirit of defiance voiced by residents as well as religious and political leaders.
Among the 12 who died early Friday at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. were fathers, mothers, a little girl ? even heroes. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.
Grad school status used to get hazardous materials?
On Sunday, officials at the University of Colorado-Denver Anschutz Medical Campus were looking into whether Holmes used his position in a graduate program to collect hazardous materials, but school officials weren't saying whether they knew he was anything more than a hard-working student.
Police have said that Holmes began buying guns at Denver-area stores nearly two months before Friday's shooting and that he received at least 50 packages in four months at his home and at school.
Six-year-old girl, sailor, aspiring broadcaster among Colorado shooting victims
The university said it was cooperating with police in the case ? one of the few comments it has made in the three days since the massacre. It remained unclear whether Holmes' professors and other students at his 35-student Ph.D. program noticed anything unusual about his behavior.
His reasons for quitting the program in June, just a year into the five- to seven-year program, also remained a mystery.
As detectives pored over evidence from the home of Aurora shooting suspect James Holmes, it became clear how complicated the investigation might be. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
Holmes recently took an intense, three-part oral exam that marks the end of the first year. Those who do well continue with their studies and shift to full-time research, while those who don't do well meet with advisers and discuss their options, including retaking the exam. University officials wouldn't say whether he passed, citing privacy concerns.
The university said Holmes gave no reason for withdrawing, a decision he made in June.
Holmes wasn't allowed access from the institution after his withdrawal, which was "standard operating procedure" because he was no longer affiliated with the school, said Jacque Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the medical school. Holmes had no contact with university police, she said.
NBC station KUSA of Denver, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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